I was reading this article by Buzzfeed today about women explaining why they did or didn’t change their name when they got married, and it reminded me of one of the most common questions we as celebrants are asked by couples - how do I change my name, and do I have to change my name?

The answer to the first question is simple - in New Zealand, you don’t have to change your name formally. In fact, you don’t ever actually change your surname (unless you choose to do so by Deed Poll, but that’s another process entirely!).

As soon as you are married in New Zealand, you can immediately:

keep your last name

take the last name of your husband or wife (this applies to men as well as women, of course!)

hyphenate or use a combination of both names with a space in between.

In other words, when Mr Jones marries Mrs Smith, Mr Jones can use

Mr Jones

Mr Smith

Mr Jones-Smith (or, Jones Smith)

Mr Smith-Jones (or, Smith Jones)

If you are traveling overseas, make sure that your ticket name matches your passport name. So, if you are travelling overseas immediately following your wedding (and won’t have time to get a new passport), remember to book your tickets in your pre-marriage name!

For more information regarding the name change process in New Zealand, click here